For Christmas this year, Lulu got a lovely set of guest flags. We are now officially within 6 months of our planned sailing date, and since we plan to visit a number of countries, we need guest flags. We have a cupboard that is specifically for guest flags, and we will even add a couple of extra Swedish flags before we leave, as I think Lulu deserves a nice looking flag. On our trip down from Finland last spring, the Swedish flag we bought new blew out it’s seams in the heavy wind. We will have a sewing machine onboard for repair work, but they also get faded in the sun.
This set was purchased through an international cruising site with prices in dollars, so it was a bit ironic that the flags were packaged and shipped from Sweden. The ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) requires a full set of navigational flags as well, we have those already. They are used to dress up the boat for celebrations, such as when we are in port preparing to leave across the Atlantic. We have had them up on Midsummer here in Sweden, and a couple of other special occasions.